GW Law is proud to announce the naming of its recently established center for law and technology in honor of GW Law alum, Eugene Bernard, and his wife, Barbara Bernard. As part of their life legacy, the Bernards provided a generous donation to GW Law’s Intellectual Property and Technology law programs; the law school used these funds to establish the Center. To honor Gene and Barbara’s memories, generosity, and commitment to legal education, GW is naming this center “The GW Center for Law & Technology: The Bernard Center.”
Eugene “Gene” L. Bernard was a 1951 graduate of the George Washington University Law School. Upon graduation, he served as an officer in the U.S. Navy. He practiced intellectual property law for many decades in Washington, D.C., and in 1980 argued successfully before the United States Supreme Court in Dawson Chemical v. Rohm & Haas, an important case in which the United States Supreme Court defined the contours of patent infringement law. In addition to contributing significantly to GW Law's reputation as a preeminent leader in educating the world’s leading patent lawyers, Gene was also a dedicated GW revolutionary and served on the University’s Board of Trustees. He retired to Palm Beach, Florida, with Barbara, his wife of 67 years.
“The Bernard gift was instrumental in expanding the GW Center for Law and Technology: The Bernard Center, and further solidified GW Law as a national leader in the issues of IP, privacy, and technology law,” GW Law Dean Dayna Bowen Matthew said. “Eugene and Barbara’s legacy epitomize GW Law’s mission to make an impact on the law through careers of meaning and influence. Moreover, the Bernard Center faculty and students will make important interdisciplinary contributions including with the Trustworthy AI Initiative and other collaborations across the University. I couldn’t be more proud to name The Bernard Center in their honor.”
First launched in late 2023 as the GW Center for Law and Technology, the Bernard Center provides education, events, scholarship, and convenes influential conversations that help to shape the direction of intellectual property, privacy, data security, and technology law. The Center is home to GW Law’s Intellectual Property Law Program as well as the nation’s top scholars in Privacy, Cybersecurity, AI, & Technology Law, bringing together distinguished faculty to solve top issues facing law and technology.
Since its inception, the Bernard Center has brought on new faculty, including Bernard Assistant Dean of Privacy and Technology Law and Bernard Center Deputy Director Adrienne Fowler; established a Privacy, Data Security, and Technology Law concentration for J.D. students; launched the GW Law Journal of Law and Technology; and hosted numerous events, including an annual speaker series that brings leading scholars in IP and tech law from other institutions onto GW Law’s campus.
According to Dean Fowler, “Eugene and Barbara Bernard’s generosity provided the seed funding that the law school needed to start the Center. In turn, the Center will continue the Bernards’ legacy by making substantial contributions to the fields of IP and tech law for generations to come."
The Bernard Center is also eliminating silos and promoting legal work across the traditionally separate disciplines of IP, privacy, and technology law. As Associate Dean for Intellectual Property Law and Bernard Center Director John Whealan explains, “The Bernard Center helps GW Law build its already formidable reputation and scholarship in all these areas of law. The Bernards have ‘paid it forward’ in a major way that will live on forever.”
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